RISE launches Call to Support Young Social Entrepreneurs

Deadline: 27-Sep-20

The RISE project is launching its open call for applications for young entrepreneurs from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to develop their social business ideas. Through a series of workshops, lectures, meetups,mobility programs and financial support, young people will have a chance to learn, grow, do business and at the same time help solve problems of their local communities.

RISE Journey is a specially tailored programme that is free-of-charge to participate in and it will help you learn, grow, and make a change in your surroundings. They focus on cooperation, ideas exchange, and peer learning to get better results.

Do you have an idea or innovative solution for a new and better way to approach education, women empowerment, culture, rural development, health or employment in your community? Social entrepreneurship skills, knowledge and experience will help you solve social and/or environmental issues that you are passionate about and help you make profit while doing it!

RISE Journey also provides you with the chance to participate in special mobility and business development grants in the second phase of the Journey. These grants will help you to explore the regional social business practices and give you a financial kick-off.

RISE supports young change-makers in making their ideas a reality. Let’s work together and make better societies grow!

Benefits

They will support a new generation of regional changemakers to RISE up and help solve problems in their local communities. This is why they developed their supporting programme, the RISE Journey, which consists of two phases: Ideation and Incubation Chapter.
For the first phase, Ideation Chapter, 36 RISE Ventures from the region are going to be selected for a 4-month-long ideation process (6 from each – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia). The Ideation Chapter will help you build your ideas from scratch to a solid project, while being supported by experts and mentors, covering all of the important subjects in social entrepreneurship.
In parallel, design thinking workshops will take place to enhance problem-solving skills for the participants.
After building up your idea, you will have an opportunity to pitch your idea on the Demo day, and get a chance to be financially and practically supported to implement your ideas towards positive impact on the community. In total, 12 teams will be selected, two per Local Incubator.
The selected Ventures will continue the RISE Journey with the Incubation Chapter. This phase is dedicated to:
- Testing and validating your social business model through a tailor-made support program and a business development grant
- Regional mobility opportunities, such as RISE Bootcamp and RISE Expeditions to visit your peers, role-model businesses and trainers/mentors/experts across the Western Balkans region and get more inspiration, knowledge, know-how and connections
- The Journey comes to an end with a Final RISE regional event, attended by all of the stakeholders of the project to recognise and celebrate their achievements!
To summarize, RISE Journey consists of:
- The Ideation Chapter – lasting for 4 months
  - Tailor-made programme to help you develop your idea
- Design thinking workshops
- Demo day
- The Incubation Chapter – lasting for 6 months
  - Testing and validating your idea supported with business development grant
  - Regional mobility opportunities
- Final event

Eligibility Criteria

Young people from 18 to 35 years old from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, in a group of a minimum of 2 persons that have:
Availability to participate in two trainings a month and meetups during 4 months ideation phase, whether these are in online or offline format
High motivation to learn about social entrepreneurship and to be involved in a regional intercultural program
The ambition to develop a concrete idea with social impact
The willingness to learn from other actors in the region
At least, have identified a social/environmental issue they want to tackle
At most, worked on their idea on a small scale / at a personal level, without having engaged in a real business activity yet.
Their idea impact is regional or local

Ineligibility Criteria

Incorporated / registered entities
Political parties, government and state agencies
Scholarships ideas
Capital funding ideas
Research ideas
Ideas with discriminatory practices, risking to create or reinforce divisions
Ideas where the main impact is outside the region

Criteria

The key criteria that applicants will need to demonstrate are:
- Strong motivation to participate in the program, the mindset of a true change-maker and commitment to fully participate in 4 months of ideation program
- How does the idea tackle a critical social/environmental issue
- Is there a potential for the idea to become a sustainable business
- At least half of team members speak English.
Advantageous criteria
- Additional points are going to be awarded if the idea:
  - Is innovative in a local context
  - Has the potential to scale or replicate in the region.
  - Has the potential to create additional jobs.
  - Respects gender-equality principles